By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

Last summer, the FC Bucks Vipers girls soccer club captured the Region 1 championship with a 1-0 victory over Albertson Fury at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.
Come this fall, Clare Roche, of Newtown, will join forces with Fury defender Molly Bruh as both backfielders will be playing for George Washington University.
A team captain for the Fury, a perennial soccer power in eastern New York, Bruh helped her team to four state cup titles. Last year, Bruh was named as one of TopDrawerSoccer's top 100 recruits.
A co-captain at Rock-North and an All-Suburban One League Second Teamer for the past two seasons, Roche helped lead the Vipers to a third place finish at the US Youth Soccer National Championships held last August in Little Rock. FC Bucks is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation and tops in the Keystone State.
Both players are among a group of seven recruits that Colonials head coach Tanya Vogel believes will help George Washington make an immediate impact in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
While Roche also considered Fairfield, Providence and Penn while also taking a whirlwind tour of some California schools, she didn’t look past the Colonials.
“I didn’t consider any other schools after I visited GW; I just fell in love with the place,” she says.
On her first visit to the DC area campus, Roche got to pal around with Jillian Morgan, a center-back for the Colonials.
“We just clicked,” said Clare. “I got to see the social aspect of [the campus] and how much fun that whole area is.”
When Roche went back for a second visit and met the rest of the team as well as the incoming recruits, she was hooked.
“I fell in love with the city and the people--the field, the players,” she says. “I just knew it was right for me.”
What’s more, she says, it’s a good time to move to the nation’s capitol, given the change in residency that took place earlier this year in the White House.
“I think I’m going at a good time,” said Clare. “It’s a good time to be going to a campus in DC with a new president coming in.”
Roche is not the only area player who competes for FC Bucks. A large group of the players hail from right here in the Newtown-Holland-Langhorne area including former goalkeeper Tara Murphy, who recorded the shutout for the Vipers in the regional title game.
Both Murphy and Julie Oberholtzer are from Holland and both have played varsity ball at Council Rock South, though Tara is currently playing at Rhode Island.
Villa Joseph Marie sent five delegates to last summer’s national tourney along with the Vipers, including midfielders Steph Lawall (Newtown), Julie Bell (Holland), Erica Sobotka (Holland), defender/MF Alysha Mallon (Newtown) and Erin Galen (Holland).
FC Bucks has 16 girls with either signed letters or verbal agreements to play D-I soccer. Some of those from lower Bucks include Neshaminy senior Lyndsay Pierson, who is headed to Pitt and Pennsbury senior Yvonne Moyer, a Levittown resident who will play soccer at Penn.
Along with Colleen Williams, a midfielder from Titusville, Mallon is heading off to Dayton.
Both Alexa Carugati, a backfielder from Newtown and Heidi Sabatura, a forward from Lawrenceville, along with Carly Edgecomb of Princeton, will stay closer to home at Villanova.
Meanwhile, defender Taylor Houck of Chalfont is heading to Nebraska and Galen will play at West Chester. Jen Hoy, a Sellersville player who scored the game-winner in the regional finale is going to Princeton. And Kaitlyn Kerr of Bensalem, who led Pennington to a sixth consecutive NJISAA Prep A title in November, has made a verbal agreement to play for Duke right after she finishes her senior year.
Gabrielle Pakhtigian, a goalkeeper from North Wales, is heading to LaSalle and Madlyn Evans, a center-mid from Abington will play for Penn State.
According to Williams, it’s all a tribute to FC Bucks head coach Eddie Leigh. With his amiable personality and the personal interest that he takes in his players, Leigh helps his players reach for the stars.
“He’s known to every college coach,” said Williams. “Everyone loves him; he’s amazing.
“He’s like a second father to us.”
Says Clare:
“The level of talent that you’re up against here is amazing. We play against some of the top competition in the country.
“I wouldn’t have gone on to play for such a prestigious college if it weren’t for FC Bucks.”
True. Yet, the Vipers wouldn’t have gotten as far without Roche.

Labels: FC Bucks, girls soccer

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

The US Youth Soccer National League Under-15 and Under-16 Girls and Under-17 Boys and Girls teams are set to resume play Friday, March 13 in Las Vegas.
One of those teams vying for a championship is the FC Pennsylvania Strikers, which got its start right here in lower Bucks.
Formerly known as the FC Bucks Strikers, the squad now draws players from as far away as Harrisburg.
Three of the players currently manning positions on the squad, which is headed out to Vegas Thursday morning, are from right here in lower Bucks. The head coach is from here, too.
Defenders Kelly Boyce and Kaitlin McNamara hail from Feasterville and Washington Crossing, respectively. Carly Black is an all-around player from Horsham.
McNamara is a Council Rock North freshman who also competes for the Lady Indians track & field team. She's also a top defender for the Strikers.
"We're fortunate to have her; she's a terrific defender," said Strikers head coach Dave Shaw, also of Washington's Crossing. "She's very hard to beat one-on-one."
A Neshaminy sophomore, Boyce grabbed a starting post last season--her first--with the Lady Redskins. A left-footed player who plays outside back for the Strikers, Kelly has been a Pennsylvania State ODP player since 2005 and a Regional ODP pool player for two years.
"Kelly is a gifted athlete who brings size, strength and speed to the Striker team," commented Shaw.
Black is a freshman at nearby Villa Joseph Marie Academy in Holland. A player with numerous skills, Black can play a post just about anywhere on the playing field, said Shaw. She was recently recruited by the U-15 US National team, and is currently listed among 34 players gathered nationwide for that squad. Black has plans to attend a U-15 US National team camp in mid-April.
The reigning Eastern Pennsylvania State Champion, the tournament trophies captured by the Strikers last year are too numerous to list. In addition to the Eastern PA title, the girls captured the Region 1 Premier League Championship. Additionally, the Pennsy team took home the WAGS Tournament trophy and the Las Vegas College Showcase Championship.
"It's a pretty special group of kids," says Shaw.
The tourney starts Friday and continues through Sunday, March 15 at Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex.
Established in 1976, the National Championships provides the opportunity for teams to showcase their soccer skills against the best competition in the nation.
"The National League provides players the opportunity to develop and test themselves in meaningful matches, and this final weekend of play for the National League Girls and Under-17 Boys will be no different as three champions will be crowned, joining the ranks of champions in the Under-17 Girls and Under-16 Boys age groups," said Paul Luchowski, US Youth Soccer National League Commissioner. "Each game will hold great significance as teams play for a League title, a chance to return next season and the opportunity to compete in the 2009 US Youth Soccer National Championships in Lancaster, Mass., July 21-26."
At last year's tourney, National League teams secured seven of the eight finals slots. National League teams went on to claim the Under-15 Boys (Baltimore Casa Mia Bays) and Girls (Dallas Texans 93 Red Dallas) as well as Under-16 Boys (Dallas Texans 92 Red) and Girls (Dallas Texans Red 92) national titles.

Labels: FC Bucks, girls soccer

Labels: FC Bucks, girls soccer, Hopewell Valley